Grandma"s House

This is Grandma and Grandpa Owen with Ed Owen, our cousin.

Valerie posted this photo on her grandmother blog and shared her earliest memory which occurred in this house.  Just seeing this photo brought some many memories for me that I thought we should post it here as a reminder to all of us.  Post your comments and memories from this house!

I wrote this as a comment on Valerie's blog.  What do you remember?

"Grandma and Grandpa lived in the bottom floor of this house and that also included the basement. It was a dark and scary basement which often had drying walnuts in circles on the floor. The bathroom had a old-fashion claw foot tub which was awesome. One unique feature of the house was that there was a hallway which ran from the kitchen/gathering area of the house to the end where there was an amazing library (at least to me) and the two (or was there three)  bedrooms and bathroom could be accessed from the hall. But my distant memories also believe that there were doors between the bedrooms and the bathroom so you could access the rooms from different doors--and it made like a loop."

Other things that I remember from this house were the patch of roses near the front of the property.  I remember them as two rows of somewhat wild roses which is still my favorite style of roses now.  One of my earliest memories was driving up the dirt driveway and seeing Grandpa and Grandma waiting on the porch for us to arrive.  As a child, I assumed they had been waiting all day for us although I am sure they heard us on the dirt road.

Grandma used a wood burning stove which seemed big to me then.  The house had a butler's pantry, a large walk-in pantry inside the door that I have always wanted in my own houses.

In the corner of the dining/family room was a big round table where we would eat amazing food that Grandma made.  

I can remember sleeping with Grandma a couple of times when we stayed there.

There was a sidewalk that went around the whole house and there was a stairwell that went up to another apartment on the second floor.  I don't remember ever seeing anyone there, but the older cousins always scared us by telling us that we had to run fast down that sidewalk or "they" might get us.

To me, this is Grandma's house and I have very few memories of the other houses she lived in.  I can remember once we drove by and the house was still there and I felt cheated that my grandma didn't still live in her Grandma house.

THE Canada Trip

Due to recent discussion about the famous Canada trip (and the fact that in one of the envelopes that I have access to at the moment during our basement painting project are some pictures), I decided to devote a post to our trip.  I will be including my memories, words from Mom taken from a letter she wrote to Grandma Owen after our trip which is in "The Richland Years," and some comments made in recent emails.  Mom's words will be italicized.

A reminder that these photos are old ones that I have scanned into my computer.  It was a different time of picture taking--we didn't take 10 shots to get one good one--we took one and it was what it was.  I hope that despite the poor quality of some of the photos that you will still enjoy the memory of this amazing trip.

Enjoy!

"Friday night we stayed at Butcherites in Spokane.  They are fine.  They are still kind of overwhelmed with having two babies (one, 21 months and one 7 months).  David (he is almost 8 now) was the only one for so long this is really a change for them.

Saturday and Sunday nights we camped at Yahk, British Columbia. which is just across the border about 9 miles."

"We attended Sunday School meetings at a tiny LDS church at Kingsgate, on the border.  We just about doubled the attendance.  Usually they have about 20 or more attending but some were on vacation. The SUnday school superintendent was a 15 year old boy.  HIs 17-yr. old sister was S.S. secretary, chorister and teacher.  There were two classes, one for 14 years and older and the other for the younger ones.  This girl taught the older class and she was very good.  Another girl, about 15 years old, gave a 2 1/2 minute talk and taught the younger class, and also lead the singing in Sacrament meeting. The first two I mentioned belong to a large family that has only been in the church about two years."

It seems like us older ones remember this little Church well.  Robin remembered that another large family was also visiting the same day as we did.

One of my memories was that one of the speakers talked about America being the promised land.  He was Canadian and was speaking from that point of view--as another place.  That is when I felt that we were truly in a different country.

Swimming in the Moyie River on Sunday was something else that we all remembered.  Lynette wrote: " I remember playing in the water on Sunday and was astounded that our mom let us do that. ( not normally a Sunday activity for members of THE CHURCH OF JESUS CHRIST OF LATTER DAY SAINTS) And especially not THE GIBERSON FAMILY.!!!!!!🤗🤗💙🦋👍"

"Near our camp, the Moyie RIver tumbled by.  I had neglected to take our bathing suits so we played in the river with our clothes on.  It was cold but not too much so, so we enjoyed it."

I didn't remember that we were wearing our clothes, but I remembered how unusual it was that we would be swimming on Sunday.  It was a beautiful memory though.  Of course, I love playing in all types of water.

Rick and Scott thought it was too cold to get in,
but loved throwing the rocks in.

Lynette

Lynette shared: " In the Richland Years, Mom says about our romp in the Moyie River as " The Best Sabbath I ever broke." Normally we wouldn't have gone swimming but this seemed to be a special situation."   About a year and a half ago I gave a talk in Sacrament Meeting on Keeping The Sabbath Day Holy.  I shared mom's story about swimming in the Moyie River. That got quite a laugh from the Congregation. "

According to the back of this photo,
this is Mike and me (Judy) playing with a ball in the river.

"On Monday, we left Yahk about 10:30 and drove to Cranbrook where we stopped to do our laundry.  Then we drove up to Kootenay National Park and camped at Marble Canyon, which is in the east part of the park.  First time I'd seen the Rocky Mountains. They were impressive. Richard was sad that I'd left out the bathing suits because Radium Hot Springs is in Kootenay park and it only costs 50 cents for adults and 25 cents for children. 

I am not sure which part of the drive one of my favorite memories occurred but I am going to add it here.  Much of our drive was in the beautiful forests of British Columbia.  At one point we drove out of the forest lined highway into a beautiful meadow area and right in the middle of that meadow stood a huge MOOSE.  It stood perfectly still as our car made its way down the highway and curved through the meadow--and then the moose MOVED.  It startled me and then I realized that it was a REAL MOOSE out in the WILD--not some pretend moose at Disneyland.  Todd was sitting next to me.  I am not sure who spoke first, but both of us had had the same experience--of being startled by the moose moving.  It was cool not only because we saw a moose in the wild, but Todd and I shared something that others in the car had not experienced in the same way.

"Tuesday we went sight seeing.  We thought Lake Louise was really beautiful.  It wasn't the color of the water on that post card, but aqua, almost green.  A lot of rivers were green also.  We went on a short hike, which Judy mentioned on the card.  Four went on the uphill hike and the rest of us went a little later and took the wrong turn, so we took the lakeside hike."

Todd, Mike, and Scott with two random tourists

I thought that Lake Louise was the most beautiful place that I had ever seen.  Although I was not a romantic type person, I remember thinking that I wanted to come back here with my husband someday because it was that type of place--one to be shared.  (We still haven't done it yet, but it is on the list.)  It made a big impact on all of us as Lake Louise was a frequently mentioned memory.

I am not sure if I ended up doing the uphill hike or the lakeside hike.  My memory was that Scott and I were behind everyone, because I had changed his diaper and were behind everyone else.  I always thought that Scott was two when we took this trip but realized as I prepared to write this that he would have only been 18 months or so in August of 1970.  I think the twist in my memory came from this hike.  Scott and I were going up the path to catch up with the family.  Scott refused to let me carry him, so we were going at a slower pace than I wanted to go to catch up with everyone else.  But Scott just kept walking and heading up the dirt path.  A dad coming down the trail with his tired kids said:  Look at that two year old boy. He is climbing all by himself.  You shouldn't complain.  You are bigger than him."  Scott did make the whole hike (around a mile up and back.)  Amazing for someone 18 months old, but shows the determination that was common for Scott. 

"Then we went back to Kootenay park, ate lunch, and went to the Paint Pots, another short hike.  That was three small pools, some green water, that filtered out orange mud form so much iron in the water.  It was quite unusual.  The ground all around was orange. 

Robin, Todd, me holding Scott, Rick

Robin remembers that this was the first time she remembers red dirt (although she did see it in Utah a few years earlier when we went to Zion's National Park.  That was another amazing trip.)  The Paint Pots have always been a memory that we talked about since then.  It was a fascinating study of geology. 

Todd at Paint Pots

"We got the biggest kick out of Scotty. We have gone on some hikes with babies who would rather be carried, but he is such a hardy little fellow.  He walked and walked, and was all excited about the whole thing.  He walked most of the way to the Paint Pots and back which was a total of a mile.  And that was after his morning hike at Lake Louise.  We all enjoyed watching him.  He was a pill at night but I'm glad that we took him along anyway.  Ricky was a good walker too, went on all hikes on his own feet."

"Scotty insists on running down the hill after the others, half-way down he tumbles." 

Mom with Scotty

I think Robin remembered that Scotty fell and got very dirty in the red dirt.

"Later, while Scotty took a nap, some of us went on a short hike up Marble Canyon.  The trail goes back and forth across Tokumm creek which is a regular-type creek most of the way down the mountain  but near the bottom hits a limestone fault and has worn a chasm that is 200 feet deep in places.  I'm glad we didn't have the baby with us.  As it was I nearly went nuts with the kids leaning over bridge rails and getting close to edges, etc. The sides were nearly straight down."

  

Mom wrote that Robin took a step backwards and she, Mom
"nearly had aheart attack."

This was nearby where we ate lunch. It was Vermillion River.  Mom wrote that it was very cold.

On the photo, mom wrote that Scotty insists on  having his shoes off
but the water curls his toes.  The throwing rocks was good though.

"Our camp was right by a large kitchen shelter which had an old wood stove so that night I stoked it up and heated up chili and Judy made some fry-biscuits that every body liked."

I have no memory of the fry biscuits, but you are welcome!!!

"We left there Wednesday morning about 10:15 so it took us almost 12 hours to get home counting the stops we made."

Mom made mention at the beginning of the letter that we came home one day early because we had run out of money.  I remember that we only had so much money for gas and food on the trip home and it was pretty limited.  (Probably the reason that the mistaken purchase of the Miracle Whip by Mike became a memory for him.)

Mom ended her letter with the following quotes:

"Quotable Quotes from the trip:

Lynette:  "Mom, I don't care about the sink part, but I just wish they had that little handle."  (We didn't have flush toilets at Yahk.)

Dad:  "This tent is a nice place to visit but I wouldn't want to live here."

In the text of The Richland Years, Mom wrote: "At the end of August was our famous Canadian trip.  (We must have been inspired because of the move to Texas the following year.)  It was a short vacation--about five days-- but very excellent and remembered with much pleasure.

Yes, it was, Mom!  We loved it and appreciate now, as many of us are parents ourselves, yours and dad's sacrifices so that we could have such a great memory.

And I would add this recent quote from Scott:  Sounds like the best trip I ever went on that I don’t remember.J

How Mom's Parents Met

This story is the "Prologue" to my mother's autobiography, something she wrote based 
on how her parents, Robert Vester Owen (who went by Ves) and Olevia Lois Purinton, actually met.

*They married on February 28, 1923*

This is a fish story. At least it is about a fisherman. Well, actually, it is about a farmer who went fishing. This fellow's name was Ves Owen and he took a notion once to leave his Oregon homestead and go fishing. Somebody convinced him there were fish to be caught at this place in California called Clear Lake. So this Ves Owen, he struck out to find them.

Not far from Clear Lake sits Kelseyville, as well as some other towns but in this story they don't matter very much. It was Kelseyville where Mr. Owen finally wound up. One day he was looking for a place to board, because he'd decided to stick around and work for a spell. Money was the only object at the moment-- this Mr. Owen was a seasoned bachelor with only himself to worry about, and so why not?

Ves Owen, but I'm unsure of his age here. He was almost 24 years older than Olevia.

Well, this seasoned bachelor went up and knocked at this door to ask for lodging. And how was he to know that he would eventually get involved with that young thing who answered his knock? Her name was Olevia and she was eighteen, but of course he didn't find that out until later.

Olevia Purinton at 18, I think.

He said: " Hello-- I heard you might have a room to rent" or something like that.

And she said: "Well, you had better come back later when my Auntie is here."

Olevia's Aunt Frankie was a trifle dismayed when she heard about this.

"Olevia," said Aunt Frankie, "you know I said before that we had no more rooms available."

And Olevia said: "Yes, but I knew when you saw his blue eyes you would change your mind."

The upshot of it all was that Mr. Owen got the room, and eventually he got Olevia, too. Whether or not he ever got any fish I don't know, but in this story that doesn't matter very much. And whether or not this is all strictly factual, I don't know either, but it made a nice story to tell the children.

The earliest photo I could find of Ves and Olevia together-- 

here they are with Bob and Lois, their two oldest children,

 probably 1929/1930

Mom, written on Mother's Day 2020

(This is a reprint from my Grandma blog that I write for my grandkids. 

Today I posted about Mom~~from Valerie)

Eileen with her big sister, Lois

I'll start with the basic personal history facts: Eileen Jane Owen was born on October 19, 1934 in Corvallis, Oregon. She was the youngest child of Robert & Olevia Owen (these were my grandparents and you will meet them in future blog posts). She had a red-haired brother named Bob and a musically-inclined sister named Lois. Another baby named Gene Franklin passed away as a two-week old infant, four years before Eileen was born.

 Eileen with the doll, her mother and sister, and Daisy the sheep

 Eileen, Lois with the doll this time, and Bob

She seemed to have an idyllic childhood growing up on a farm in Western Oregon--the kind that nowadays we can only dream of or read about in books. To quote her autobiography: 

"When I was four we moved to "Sunnymount," which was just up the hill from the Price place [nineteen miles south of Corvallis]. This was my favorite home during my childhood. There were always lots of neat things to do such as looking for green frogs at the spring or catching garter snakes or "fishing" in the tiny brook that trickled down through the grape thicket. (It didn't matter much that my fishing pole was built from a stick, a string and a safety pin because there weren't any fish.)

"It seems incredible to me that I survived by childhood. Occasionally I read of a child falling out of a tree and sustaining fatal injuries, or drowning in a river, and I always wonder how I'm still here. I mean considering all the time I spent in trees and on rivers, without so much as a broken bone or other near disaster.

"Monroe, situated between the Coast Range and the Long Tom River, was plentifully supplied with good wading water and good climbing. I spent a large amount of time in either one or the other, and in between I scouted for wildflowers, watched crawdads, and climbed in and over old cars in the junk yard.

Because she was so much younger than her older siblings, everyone treated Eileen special. Her dad was older--54 when Eileen was born so he retired well before her friends' dads did. She thought it was a grand arrangement because her dad would sing, joke, and tell stories all the time, and she thought she was the luckiest girl in the whole wide world.

Eileen with her father and Bob and Lois

The whole family, Eileen on the far right

There are many stories to tell about my mother but this is her through my eyes: She liked to write and read. She played the piano and she could sing. She sewed a lot, and was creative and artistic in many ways. She liked people. She didn't like to cook. She loved October. She appreciated nature. She wrote poetry, letters, journals, and family histories. She enjoyed quips and clever plays on words. She liked to learn. On road trips she made us stop and read historical markers. She liked to play games. A messy house was her nemesis. She was always busy with church callings and assignments. She was a dedicated member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints with a great faith in the Savior. She was known for giving great talks in church. She was a diligent visiting teacher and friend to many. She was exactly the right kind of mother to me. Growing up I always thought she was the smartest person I knew.

Traces of Mom

(This is a reprint of a post I did in 2013 written on Memorial day of that year.)

I know it is no longer Mother's Day.  Although my plan for this post pre-dated Mother's Day this year, timing never worked for me to actually sit down and write it.  It takes a quiet time with a few less demands pulling on me from my house, my life, and even my computer.  Memorial Day this year turned out to be the moment (for at least right now).  Now this is actually just a post for me and my mom.  You are welcome to read it but it is long and specific for her.

After spending some time at the cemetery yesterday with Gary and his family, I am also in that mood of gratitude for those who had gone before--certainty my mom and others that I know but also for all those who have served and died for our country to provide and protect those precious freedoms we enjoy.  Our neighborhood is filled today with flags flying in tribute to those men and women.

Back to my mom (or Grandma Giberson to my children):

Eileen Jane Own Giberson
My mom at our first house in Richland
@1962



My mom and dad
This was taken in Amarillo Texas
@1972

My mom and dad sporting our Giberson reunion t-shirts from 1994
That was the last reunion my mother attended.

I had to put this picture in for my kids.
My mom liked "pigs" and it started as a cute
little quirky thing, but it exploded into a huge
collection.  Not only did we as children find
pigs for her but friends and ward members
did as well.  She also had several "pig" books.
She loved to read and she loved to read
to her grandchildren and my kids loved it too.

Like all moms, my mom worked hard for our family, She cooked (which she didn't like), she cleaned (which was a huge undertaking with 8 kids), she sewed most of our clothes when I was young, and she managed the organization of 8 kids, one husband, and demanding Church assignments for both of them.  She was extraordinary as a woman. She made life happy for us, she loved flowers, she loved books and music, she kept a journal. She was a friend to all and I never remember her saying bad things about anyone.  She was always willing to extend the benefit of the doubt.  Most of all she loved God and understood her place with him.  I remember six months after she had a life saving heart transplant hearing her stand and bear her testimony and saying, "I have been so blessed in my life.  I have not had many of the difficult trials which others deal with."  I actually didn't think anything about it until the next sister stood up and said something to the affect that if Eileen didn't think 10 years of congestive heart failure and being away from her family for four months for a heart transplant was a trial, we all better stop feeling sorry for ourselves and get busy. That was my mom.  Her impact on all who knew her was upbeat, positive, and loving.  I saw a quote which fit her recently. It goes something like this:  Don't live your life so that everyone knows you're here. Live it so that they will miss you when you are gone.  That fits her well.  She is missed, in some ways more now than right after she died.  It has been over 18 years (now 25 years).

But this post isn't really about my mom (although it is good to put some pictures of her in here for future generations), but it is about the "traces of her" which I have found physically within my own house.  I have noticed over the years how many of the things I choose for my house are related in some way to my mother.  They remind me of her, they remind me of home, and they remind me of mothering and love.  Some are possessions of hers, some are things I did on purpose because of her and others were just accidents.................but whatever the reasons I found her touch throughout my house where she has never been and it is a reflection of the major influence she had as my mom in making me who I am today (even though in many ways I am included in the group of siblings who "take after my dad the most).

Traces----

Logo from our last reunion--designed by my nephew Niles Giberson
Mom came up with the name "Giberiginal" with some help from siblings and
she used it as a trademark on the back of her homemade birthday cards and
other cards she made---long before card making became a "thing".
It was fun to use it again for our logos for the reunion.

This is our last Giberson family photo which was taken
in Austin, Texas, in 2003 (I think).
The little pig represents Mom.
Family photographs and family reunions were two
very important things to my mom and my dad.

These are some mystery books of my Mom's.
She and I both loved mystery books
as young girls and I love having these treasured books of hers.

My mom's streamer chest which she took
her stuff to BYU. (I didn't take my stuff
to BYU in it.)

My mom loved flowers and she was known
for stopping the car while on vacations to
go look at flowers.  I loved that now and have
done the same to my children.
Not sure if I loved it as a child.
We had irises in our Richland house
and here are ours in Syracuse.

In Richland, we had tiger lilies out our
kitchen door.  Here are some I planted in
Syracuse as a reminder of that.

My mom did love pigs and upon
her death we each took a couple of pigs.
These are from her collection.  She painted the
white piggy bank.

I am not a personal fan of pigs.  I am more of an elephant person.
However I saw this once at RC Willeys and felt drawn to it.
After going back and forth, I finally got it.
Odd tribute to my mom, but it still makes me smile each time I
see it.  (And now everyone will know why that pig is
in my dining room floor.  I actually have a few other
pigs scatter around my house as well.)
My mom would laugh!

When Gary and I moved into our first house, my mom
sent us a package with something for each of the main
rooms of our new house.  This was a needle point she made
for our yellow bathroom.
This has hung in every house since then.
It currently is in our laundry room.

In that same package came four wooden letters spelling
"Hall" for the hall, of course.  She thought she was so
clever.  We used those for years as well but
they have been recycled many years ago.
However I did my own version for this house----

The Piano--
My mom played the piano and organ.  Many of the classic music pieces I recognize because my mother would play them at night as we were falling asleep. I loved having a mom who could play, but steadfastly refused to learn how to play myself as a child. (And as an adult with some piano lesson experience, it was probably a wise choice as I do not have the "piano/music" gene possessed by my mother and many of the "Owen" family tree.)  Gary "fell in love" with my family as my mom played the piano and we all sang after a Thanksgiving dinner. That event led him to consider that he would have to marry me to be a part of that so the rest is history. All of that is a side note to the piano.
After we got married, I immediately noticed a piano missing from our home.  It was just a part of my life that I couldn't imagine building a home without one.  It was an exciting day when we bought our first piano which we had in West Jordan and sold when we moved to Hong Kong and since then we have had electronic pianos. Luckily God blessed us with Tosha who was a music soul like my mom so we have had piano music.  Except for Scott, all of my kids have enjoyed the piano from time to time.  As for me, I try to play on Sunday each week.
Thank, Mom, for music.

My mom had this quote on her wall, long before quotes
were fashionable.  It is a take off of a scripture.  It says
"Sufficient each day is the mess therein."
For me, it serves to remind myself that I might want
to take care of today's messes today
 (rather than piling the laundry to be folded....later!)
This hangs in my kitchen which incidentally is painted yellow.
My mom always wanted a yellow kitchen.  Me, too.
Yellow is a bright and wonderful color.

I had bought a Thanksgiving rabbit and my mom, after seeing that,
made me that rabbit for my birthday complete with hearts--it works for both
valentines and my birthday, although now it sits in Scarlett's room because she loved it, too.

My mom taught me to love to swing.
And so we must have swings.
Jena loves to swing as well.

This is my grandmother's treadle sewing machine.
I can remember my mom sewing clothes on
this machine for us.  Crazy!  That was seriously
hard work to sew and work the pedal.  My mom said years later that sewing
was a great pleasure and stress reliever for her.  I can't imagine it
as the thought of sewing can make me break out into
a cold sweat.  My cousins just recently brought this
to me from Oregon.  My parents had returned it to
Grandma when they finally got an electric sewing machine.  However,
Grandma wanted my mom to have it when she died but they never got it to Texas.
After my mom died my aunt was determined that I have it.
So they brought it when they came to attend a wedding of a nephew.
I was so excited and grateful for their sacrifice to bring it.
And it still works so if I need to sew after an earthquake,
I am prepared!?????

My quilt--
My Mom made this for me for Christmas of
my freshman year at BYU.  This was a ton of work.
It included scraps of material from dresses and clothes
she had made me throughout my life.
Circles--can you imagine sewing that?
It was on my bed throughout college and until I got married.
And then on extra beds for years.
Then one day I noticed it was getting worn so I took it "out of commission"
and it sit on a shelf in our bedroom.  As I type this I realize that I am
wrapped up with the quilt my mom made for Gary and I when we got
married.  It is a blue tied quilt that continues to
keep us warm years after it no longer was our bedspread.
If we can find it as Ben and Tosha have used it over the years.
Quilting is one part of sewing that I am trying to add to
my life.  I apparently love material and a beautiful quilt
is such an amazing treasure.

My mom and dad loved maps and taught us
to use them.  My brother took it a step further and
majored in geography in college.  I was actually one class
short of a minor in geography myself.  This hangs in
our living room but I (and my brother Todd) both have
map collections as well.

I love my mom and just like my home, my heart and mind are filled with her memory.  I so wish that my children could have known her and loved her personally, too.  She loved them so much and prayed for them.  She died before Jena was born, but I feel a calm peace that she knew and loved Jena before we did. 

Happy Mother's Day, mom.  And thanks for everything!